Portull Training Services Limited

Portull Training Services Limited Unit 1 Trackside Business Park, 261 Hawthorn Avenue, Hull HU3 5EN

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monitoring inspection report:

During the monitoring inspection, inspectors focused on the following themes:

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monitoring inspection report:

 Leadership and governance - specifically the progress leaders have made in designing and delivering relevant adult learning provision that has a clearly defined purpose, and in identifying and supporting the needs of adult learners.

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monitoring inspection report:

 Inclusion - specifically the progress leaders have made in identifying the needs of individual learners and putting suitable support in place, in particular for those who are disadvantaged, those with SEND or high needs, those who are known (or previously known) to social care, and those who may face other barriers to their experiences and opportunities, including those without level 2 English and/or mathematics.

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monitoring inspection report:

 Curriculum, teaching and training - specifically the progress leaders and managers have made in ensuring that learners benefit from high-quality adult education that prepares them well for their intended job role, career aim and/or personal goals.

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monitoring inspection report:

 Safeguarding arrangements - specifically whether leaders and managers have ensured that effective safeguarding arrangements are in place.

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Leadership and governance

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Leadership and governance

Leaders have a clear rationale for providing Skills Bootcamps. They have substantial experience of training unemployed adults in large plant machinery, particularly linked to working in the ports. Leaders cultivate long-standing relationships with local and national employers, Jobcentre Plus and Hull City Council, and have a thorough understanding of the labour market in this industry. Monitoring inspection report: Portull Training Services Limited 18 and 19 February 2026

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Leaders have a sound grasp of their strengths and take prompt actions for their areas for improvement. Leaders recently changed the curriculum to be tailored for each learner. Learners can now select their programme of skills, including different types of forklift trucks and overhead gantry cranes. This contributes to more learners gaining employment in the warehousing and logistics sector.

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Through working with partners, such as the National Careers Service, leaders ensure that learners receive useful and tailored careers advice and guidance throughout their programmes. Learners understand the range of jobs available in this industry and make informed choices about the skills they choose to develop in their tailored curriculum.

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Instructors are experienced in the industry and well qualified to train learners on a wide range of plant machinery. Instructors update their practical skills frequently. However, they do not complete sufficient professional development to learn about the latest strategies in teaching.

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Inclusion

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Inclusion

Leaders establish a culture of inclusion where they value learners’ backgrounds and prior experiences and provide the support learners need to help them thrive. This is because leaders and instructors are experienced in working with long-term unemployed learners and understand the barriers they may face, including poverty and homelessness.

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Inclusion

Leaders and staff accurately identify learners’ needs. Because adult learners do not always share their needs at the start of the course, they provide frequent opportunities to discuss ways in which they can reduce barriers to learning. Instructors are vigilant for signs that learners may need support, such as changes in behaviour or appearance.

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Inclusion

Leaders and instructors provide learners with appropriate individualised support. For example, they help them to secure housing, access food and have appropriate clothes for job interviews. Leaders monitor the support provided to ensure it is suitable and helps learners to make progress.

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Inclusion

Leaders and instructors have not completed specific training in supporting learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders have already identified that this would help instructors to adapt their teaching strategies more confidently, which would enhance their support for learners. Monitoring inspection report: Portull Training Services Limited 18 and 19 February 2026

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Leaders plan comprehensive curriculums to prepare learners for working in the sector. These include classroom-based sessions on working in the industry and practical sessions in using plant machinery, including counterbalance and reach forklift trucks and mobile elevated working platforms.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Instructors identify learners’ starting points accurately and use these to plan individual training. Instructors introduce increasingly complex manoeuvring before moving on to transporting pallets. Learners have sufficient time to practise the new skills they learn.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Instructors use a range of effective teaching strategies to enable learners to grasp new knowledge and skills quickly. These include clear instructions and demonstrations of practical techniques and using their industry experience to describe safe practices and potential pitfalls.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Instructors check learners’ understanding frequently and provide clear feedback, particularly for practical tasks in the warehouse. However, in a few instances, instructors do not provide sufficiently precise feedback that helps learners know exactly how they can improve their work and their written English.

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Curriculum, teaching and training

Learners make swift progress and achieve all parts of their training. They are successful in interviews at the end of the Skills Bootcamp and gain employment soon after, with most having sustained employment in the sector.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Reasonable progress : the provider’s actions are already having a beneficial impact on learners and/or apprentices. Improvements are sustainable and are based on the provider’s thorough quality assurance procedures.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Leaders have established an effective safeguarding culture that is woven into the strategies and practices of the organisation. They have appointed suitable designated safeguarding leads and established a named contact with the local authority who can provide advice and support. Leaders understand the risks in the local area and adapt the curriculums effectively in response.

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Safeguarding arrangements

Learners are confident to discuss safeguarding or wellbeing concerns about themselves or their peers. Vigilant instructors build positive relationships in the short time that learners are on the bootcamps and act on any concerning signs. Leaders have suitable methods for recording safeguarding issues, although they do not formally record the actions that they take to support learners’ wellbeing. Monitoring inspection report: Portull Training Services Limited 18 and 19 February 2026

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Instructors complete relevant training and receive frequent updates on safeguarding, the ‘Prevent’ duty and online safety. Leaders check instructors’ understanding by asking them impromptu scenario-based questions and how they would explain these in context for their learners.

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Learners have an appropriate understanding of how to keep themselves safe from radicalisation and extremist views, including when online. They understand the risks of working near the ports. They know to make sure that incorrect labels are not disguising illegally imported goods and how to report suspicious activity.

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About this inspection

Ofsted carries out monitoring inspections to all newly directly funded providers of adult learning provision where the provision offered is in scope for inspection.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this monitoring inspection was not to determine grades for any of the evaluation areas set out in the further education and skills inspection toolkit. The purpose was to report on the provider’s progress in relation to the 4 themes set out above.

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About this inspection

Leaders at Portull Training Services Limited have been providing training in Hull since 2007. They specialise in training for large plant machinery, particularly for the ports. Since 2023, they have provided Skills Bootcamps for adult learners in warehousing and logistics and, more recently, in Stevedoring. At the time of the monitoring inspection, there were 8 learners on the warehousing and logistics Skills Bootcamp.

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Team inspector

Jacquie Brown His Majesty’s Inspector Monitoring inspection report: Portull Training Services Limited 18 and 19 February 2026

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funding at time of inspection

Monitoring inspection report: Portull Training Services Limited 18 and 19 February 2026

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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